tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-333047632024-03-12T18:14:31.160-07:00Mariposas Oscuras & Other ObscuritiesSpositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-48141293272963853112019-01-14T23:10:00.000-08:002019-01-14T23:51:56.086-08:00Striving to Come, Follow Christ as a family<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is no doubt that God designed the family to help us develop godlike qualities, nor that God intends for the parents to teach their children well. Apparently there is some confusion about God designing something that is necessary and yet isn’t pleasant all the time. Men are that they might have joy and all that. ‘They might’ being the significant phrase. It doesn’t say ‘they will automatically’ or easily or ONLY have joy - just that they MIGHT have joy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">To quote my husband (if you haven’t heard him proclaim this already), “Marriage is hard!” And this is part of the design of it! Family life is supposed to be hard - it is a design Feature, NOT a design FLAW. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell put it,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Why should it surprise us... that life’s most demanding tests as well as most significant opportunities for growth in life usually occur within marriage and family? ... Is being courteous, one time, to a stranger on the bus as difficult as being courteous to a family member who is competing for the bathroom morning after morning? ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Should it surprise us that in striving to acquire and develop celestial attributes, the greater the interpersonal proximity the greater the challenge? Is not patience, for instance, best developed among those with whom we interface incessantly? The same is true with any of the eternal attributes! Hence the high adventure of marriage and family life!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Now, it might not be competing for the bathroom that is hard for us (it certainly seems to be for certain members of our family) but I am going to make a wild guess that nearly everyone has to deal with someone in their family that does something annoying. They might even do it ON PURPOSE. It might be never putting their cereal away. It might be they use your stuff and don’t put it away and it gets broken. It might be they can’t seem to put their clothes in the hamper or shoes in the closet. It might be that they keep messing up your shared room that you just cleaned. It might be that they snore at night and keep you from your well-deserved sleep. It might be that they stubbornly refuse to joyfully participate in family scripture study. Maybe. Perhaps. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">These annoyances - er - <i><u>interactions</u></i> - with other people give us every day an opportunity to hone our celestial mettle. As Elder David A Bednar said,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“In marriage and family life, we learn and grow together as God intended. In our families ‘we cannot hide from who we really are as we strive to become who we are destined to become. In essence, a family is the mirror that helps us become aware of imperfections and flaws we may not be able or want to acknowledge. No one knows us better than a spouse and the other members of our family. Thus, the family is the ultimate mortal laboratory for the improving and perfecting of God’s children."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Who knew family life was part of Ultimate Sports? Forget American Ninja Warrior or Survivor! If you survive family life you win the Ultimate Prize! If you survive it with too much grace and ease, some will just stand agape at your skills while others might want to vote you off the island - but the thing is, everyone has their moments of despair or insecurity and clinging on by the very fingertips with shaking muscles and by hiding them we are only denying everyone cheering us on to the finish. The other nice thing is that there is never an elimination in this Ultimate Family Game. You slipped off the rings into the water? You missed that crazy jump? You yelled at you kids for the thousandth time? No problem! You get to try again and again and again. Because repentance and forgiveness are definitely included in the rules of this game. In fact, they’re essential because without them - no one would finish. No one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The danger is that we look into that mirror that is our family and we don’t like what we see because we can only see all the imperfections - the wrinkles and zits and awful things that we did or said and we don’t take advantage of the greatest Photoshop of all - the Atonement. Not that all those things will be magically taken away in the click of a button (wouldn’t that be nice!) just that we can catch a glimpse - a breath-taking, wonder-inducing glimpse of what we could be if we keep trying. And that glimpse gives us hope to keep trying and repenting and trusting in Christ and His promise to make us whole if we desire it. Wouldn’t it be great if we could somehow see all of our imperfections as opportunities to change instead of something to be hidden? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Getting this rule more deeply ingrained in our heads is one of the main reasons of the new Come Follow Me program. Seriously. And I quote:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“The aim of all gospel learning and teaching is to deepen our conversion and help us become more like Jesus Christ. For this reason, when we study the gospel, we’re not just looking for new information; we want to become a “new creature” (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). This means relying on Christ to change our hearts, our views, our actions, and our very natures.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Yep. Christ is out to change us. Entirely. So when we notice that something needs changing, it means we can start working on something that will make us more like Him. Sometimes that changing is going to need more help that just you or you and your family alone can manage. Seek out or be willing to be guided by the Spirit to the people who can help you change. These might be friends or medical professionals or therapists at times. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The new Come Follow Me program is going to make us face that family mirror more - yay for more opportunities to change! God is cheering you on in this journey to become alive in Christ. God wants your success and will help you in it as much as you allow Them to especially as you plead for Their help in guiding your family through. Does God’s help mean that your family will become impervious to problems or falling away? A survey of the prophets from Adam on down seems to say “NO”. Not even Jesus could convert people who didn’t want to be converted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’d like to give a few suggestions to help make your Come Follow Me family experience the best that it can possibly be: 1. Decide on your goals; 2. Teach Who you have; 3. Teach with What you have; and 4. Teach by invitation and example</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">First, Decide on your goals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Now, as already stated, the overarching goal is to deepen our conversion and help us become more like Jesus Christ. There are going to be many little goals along the way that help our families get closer to Christ. What is your focus going to be? Sitting reverently for 5 minutes? Sitting reverently for 1 minute? To memorize scriptures? To love the scriptures? To love the word of God? To invite the Holy Ghost more fully into your home? To turn off the screens more? To connect as a family more? Loving each other more? Sharing the love you feel with others? Being more consistent in Family Prayer or Scripture Study?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Each family is different and will have different goals. Setting goals helps you focus on what you really want. Always remember that grand goal - to deepen our conversion to Christ and try to see our decisions and actions within our families through that lens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I went to a parenting workshop this past week that discussed the importance of deciding what you really wanted in a relationship with your children when they were twenty and acting accordingly. Did you want them to tell you everything? Did you want them to be successful and mature adults? Did you want them to feel so at home that they would just walk in the door? Did you want them to be thoughtful and kind? I wanted so many things! It was fascinating to think through how our reactions to situations might be totally different depending on our ultimate goal and none of them would be Wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">What will your goals be and how will they shape your interactions with your family?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Second: Teach Who you Have</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Congratulations to all the families that have children that all eagerly and reverently listen (at the same time) as you teach the gospel. I haven’t experienced that yet! Why aren’t you up here giving this talk?!?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Christ taught the individual - He had the advantage of divine omniscience to know exactly WHO He was speaking to, what they needed to hear, and how they needed to hear it. And even then some chose not to listen!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Luckily (although they can still be a mystery at times), you know your family members better than anyone else. You’ve known them for Your entire lives or you’ve know them for Their entire lives. When you ask for and take advantage of divine omniscience through the Spirit, you can be guided on how to best teach them. And even then they may choose not to listen!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Take inventory of what you know about each of them - their abilities and nature - Do you have energetic kids? Long attention spans or short attention spans? Do they like to be in charge or do they like to observe? Are they creative or literal-minded?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Clearly, even in a nuclear family setting, very infrequently will the needs and interests of everyone intersect. We definitely struggle with this having teenagers through preschoolers in our home!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">One thing that we have focused on is respecting our family members’ attention spans. My husband still has strong antibodies against long lecture-like Family Home Evenings where everyone has to sit still the Whole Time because he resented them so much as a child. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Lessons don’t have to be long to be effective! Putting kids in charge of the lessons can help them be shorter. Sometimes it is as simple as reading a scripture and drawing a picture to go with it - either the actual story or a principle from it. Set them up for success - show them the online resources or Gospel Library App and where you keep the spiritual books and manuals in the house. The Friend and the New Era each have suggested FHE lessons that support the Come Follow Me curriculum and are set up so that an older child or teen could teach the lesson. One of my brother’s favorite lesson techniques was to get a bag of random stuff from around the house, have us draw something out and then somehow relate it back to the lesson topic. We laughed a lot but also stretched our understanding of the scriptures!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If you don’t have family at home, pray for opportunities to share the insights you find as you study with others - it can be a text to a grown child, a written note to a grandchild, a conversation with a ministering sister or brother. For those that have families in the growing stage, prayerfully consider how you can include people who don’t have family nearby or are alone in the gospel within their family in your family’s study of Come Follow Me so that both you and they can be blessed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Three: Teach with What you have</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Christ was an excellent teacher in part because He used examples from the everyday lives of the people He taught. They understood about chickens and fishing and shepherds and publicans. If the people you’re teaching don’t know about these things, find some way to let them experience it - or draw from their experience to liken principles from the scriptures to things in their lives. I look forward to hearing how soccer or Ultimate Frisbee can be related to the principles of repentance or how the desire to check in on the favorite game (Insert Minecraft or Terraria or Puzzle & Dragons or Zelda or Pokémon here) is like the desire of the shepherd to watch over the sheep. Work with what you have in your house. Use the situations they already see and experience to help them understand gospel principles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Finally, Teach by Invitation and Example.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Come, Follow Me is very appropriately named. It is both a reminder of Christ’s invitation to us to follow Him and a reminder of the best teaching methods we have available to us: teaching by example and invitation. As a teacher, Christ never forced, he only showed the way and invited. As parents we are constantly showing the way: Whether we like it or not we are setting the standards for behavior - including repentance and forgiveness. It is not failure to make mistakes - it is part of the learning process! All you older children? You’re teaching your younger brothers and sisters how to behave whether you like it or not, so I plead with you to help set a good example for them to follow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In the role of parent of young children, we must also enforce justice so that young children know the boundaries of acceptable behavior. But as they get older and start understanding principles of the gospel better, making invitations to better behavior gives them a sense of your trust and belief in their abilities to make good decisions and choose the right. Trust that you have imperfectly taught them well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">May you be blessed as you and your families strive to follow the Savior, become more like Him, love more like Him, learn together, teach each other and reach for Divine inspiration and grace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(From a talk given January 2019)</span></div>
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Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-39134230273560536302013-04-23T23:58:00.000-07:002013-04-23T23:58:09.566-07:00My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee My brother and his wife are about to go through the worst thing I can imagine. They are about to lose their baby. About a month ago, they went in for their routine ultrasound - the one where you usually get to find out the gender of the baby. The technicians measure a lot of other things, but usually I don't care about them. This is when my brother and his wife found out their baby was very sick and would not be able to survive outside her womb - and maybe not even until full term. <div>
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I've been trying to wrap my head around this for a month and I can't. I can't comprehend how this knowing their baby must die weighs on their every moment. I can't tell how much it must hurt to feel this little living kicking moving darling Tiny Baby and know how fleeting this baby's life will be. I can't imagine the long drawn out pain of knowing that your baby will not survive and knowing there isn't anything you can do to change it. I can't stop crying whenever I dwell on it. It seems like every discussion and lesson at church this past month has been related to this somehow (and it means that I've spent a good portion of church crying).</div>
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This past Sunday the Relief Society lesson was on learning through our trials. I always struggle with these lessons because I feel like I live a charmed life - I worry that I'm either too fragile to get any huge trials or that there is a real doozy waiting for me just up the road around the bend. Right now I'm leaning towards too fragile to handle anything at all because I'm in pieces over someone else's trial. Yes, it is happening to people close to me that I love but it is not ME. They are handling it as well as anyone can in these circumstances with a mix of love and grief and hurt and bewilderment and grace and pain and faith.</div>
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But I had two things I want to cling to and share.</div>
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One - We talked about shrinking from our trials. I think this is our natural response - we all withdraw from the things that hurt us. It is instinct, reflex. We don't think about it. Shrinking from the trial is not a sin. Even Jesus wished, "that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink" It is when we push through and past that initial response and embrace or overcome that instinct to shrink away that we can grow. Every trial is a chance to choose to grow or shrink. The trial is still miserable. The pain will be there no matter what. But the choice is ours to whether our cup of joy gets bigger or smaller. It is perfectly ok to feel desperately sad and that life will never be the same again. It won't. But I have to believe that we decide how the experience transforms us. I know what I hope I would choose.</div>
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Two - We listened to a song based on Jesus' response to Joseph in Liberty Jail when he complains about the trials he is going through. (which were more than I ever want to experience). Here are the lyrics:</div>
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For a little while</div>
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Have I forsaken thee; </div>
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But with great mercies will I gather thee.</div>
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In a little wrath I hid my face from thee</div>
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For a moment.</div>
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But with everlasting kindness will I gather thee,</div>
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And with mercy will I take thee 'neath my wings,</div>
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For the mountains shall depart,</div>
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And the hills shall be removed,</div>
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And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea,</div>
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But know, my child,</div>
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My kindness shall not depart from thee!</div>
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Though thine afflictions seem</div>
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At times too great to bear,</div>
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I know thine every thought and every care.</div>
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And though the very jaws</div>
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Of hell gape after thee I am with thee.</div>
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And with everlasting mercy will I succor thee,</div>
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And with healing will I take thee 'neath my wings.</div>
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Though the mountains shall depart,</div>
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And the hills shall be removed,</div>
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And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea,</div>
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Know, my child,</div>
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My kindness shall not depart from thee!</div>
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How long can rolling water</div>
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Remain impure?</div>
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What pow'r shall stay the hand of God?</div>
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The Son of Man hath descended below all things.</div>
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Art thou greater than He?</div>
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So hold on thy way,</div>
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For I shall be with thee.</div>
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And mine angels shall encircle thee.</div>
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Doubt not what thou knowest,</div>
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Fear not man, for he</div>
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Cannot hurt thee.</div>
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And with everlasting kindness will I succor thee,</div>
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And with mercy will I take thee 'neath my wings</div>
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For the mountains shall depart,</div>
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And the hills shall be removed,</div>
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And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea,</div>
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But know, my child,</div>
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My kindness shall not depart from thee!</div>
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My kindness shall not depart from thee!</div>
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(Youtube link <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq-KhxsUxNo">here</a> - just listen)</div>
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So, if you have a spare moment to send up an extra prayer for my brother and his family today, please do. I will be praying that the angels will encircle them and that they will feel of His love over these next difficult days and months to come.</div>
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Their blog is here: <a href="http://www.hilleries.com/"> www.hilleries.com</a></div>
Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-63256171136009169692012-12-10T13:03:00.002-08:002012-12-10T13:14:07.348-08:00Oh the Catching Up-ed-ness!I figure since I put this blog on our Christmas Card, I should actually put a current post up. And hey, I actually DID Christmas Cards!!!! We have NEVER done Christmas Cards before! We did a Christmas letter a couple times, but never a CARD.<br />
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The Dude is now in 4th grade. He has already completely his California Mission Project (with distinction). He is still playing the violin and is getting really good and a joy to listen to. His little quartet from Violin Camp this summer has had a couple other chances to perform because they were just so good. :) Having recently acquired dragon-wings has made him very happy and he loves swooping around the house.<br />
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Sita is in 1st grade. Apparently she's quite the popular little person on the playground but has a lot of the accompanying drama that goes with it. She is also plucking away at the violin and is starting to actually read the music. We are still trying to stay ahead of her reading, but that is fairly impossible. She is such a good storyteller that sometimes it is hard to winnow fact from fiction and she has such a good imagination that sometimes it is hard for HER to tell fact from fiction.<br />
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Boo's favorite things to do are to have books read to her, play dress up with Sita or play dragons with the Dude. She loves going to her preschool once a week and especially enjoying the company of another little girl that has ALMOST the same name as her. It can get rather confusing when they're hanging out together (which they do a lot!) She is also my great helper around the house and likes kneading bread with her Daddy.<br />
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The Spozo Maravilloso is doing Very Important Things at work. He is filing for a patent (again)! He'll have to tell you what it is actually about. He is also in demand at conferences and has gone to several this year (although none outside of the U.S. - which is sad because I got my passport renewed just so I could come with him if he got to go to a foreign one!) He loves teaching the Elder's Quorum (men's group) lessons at church and is getting attention for his wonderful singing and oboe-ing. The children are caught up in watching him defeat the Evil Demons on Zelda Skyward Sword.<br />
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I got to go to Girls' Camp again this year (thanks to Nonna and GrandMary!). I went with one of the groups that go on an overnight hike, which was my first time ever. It was a great experience and I had a great time with the girls. I have been teaching art lessons for the Dude's and Sita's classes (because the parents teach the art here - they give you all the lesson plans and supplies). Getting to know the kids in their classes and their teachers has been great - and I just love teaching art! :) I just got released from working with the Young Women and am now the Thing Formerly Called Enrichment Coordinator. Being in Relief Society again is nice, but I still miss working with the youth.<br />
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That is us in a very nutshell!<br />
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I will try to post more often!<br />
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~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-43938796543991020562011-04-24T00:04:00.000-07:002011-04-24T00:04:25.962-07:00Yes, she gets itMost of the time when I mention that the Sita is reading the Little House on the Prairie books or now the Chronicles of Narnia, the first question they ask is, "Yes, but is she understanding it?"<br />
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Now, she probably isn't understanding all the symbolic or allegorical aspects of the Chronicles of Narnia, but is she understanding the basic stories? Yes, definitely! Since she is almost always making up some story out loud, it is easy to listen to her stories to see what she's been reading lately because she pulls from those to make up her own. For a while, she named one of her dolls Charlotte and they had a lot of fever and ague and eating of cornmeal mush. Now she's into talking animals and alternate realities although we've also had a lot of Fairies (the Rainbow Fairy books), Dragons (How to Train Your Dragon), and Owls (the Legend of Ga'Hoole). =)<br />
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As another proof of her reading comprehension, the Dude has been taking pretests in prep for the STAR testing next week and bringing them home to show how well he's doing on them. There are a lot of stories on them for the reading comprehension bits and I saw Sita reading one of them this morning. So I asked her all the questions that were connected with that story and she verbally answered them correctly and only needed the "multiple choice" options to guess it right a couple of times. Once she realized she got all of them right, she wanted to try the rest of the practice tests. And she totally passed. Only on one story did she get any wrong at all.<br />
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The Dude was a little jealous of her doing as well as HE did on the tests, so we got to have a nice chat about how someone doing as well as you at something does not take away from you doing well and you don't need to feel threatened by it. I'm sure we'll have this chat at least a few more times. It is something I have to remind myself of every once in a while.<br />
~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-68529806828985936752011-03-21T00:19:00.000-07:002011-03-21T00:19:04.082-07:00Addicted to MoviesYes, I am sorry to say Boo at the tender age of 2 is completely addicted to watching movies. At first it was just <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Seuss-Green-Favorites-Grinch/dp/B00009ZVNO/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1300690694&sr=1-1">Green Eggs and Ham</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Seuss-Original-Television-Episode/dp/B00009ZVNN/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1300690722&sr=1-2">Cat in the Hat</a>. Then we discovered the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_14?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=eyewitness+dvd&x=0&y=0&sprefix=eyewitness+dvd">Eyewitness DVD</a>s at our local library!!! Now she asks for "uhSHEEN" (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-DVD-Human-Machine-Videos/dp/0756645042/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300689257&sr=8-1">Human Machine</a>) "i-a-uhs"(<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-DVD-Natural-Disasters-Videos/dp/0756655455/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300689350&sr=8-2">Natural Disasters</a>) and "orssy" (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-DVD-Horse-Videos/dp/0756658241/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300689457&sr=8-1">Horses</a>). She didn't like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-DVD-Skeleton-Videos/dp/0756628334/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300689509&sr=8-2">Skeleton</a> as much. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-Bird-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B000VZGGRK/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1300689570&sr=1-1">Birds</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-DVD-Butterfly-Martin-Sheen/dp/0756628261/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1300689607&sr=1-1">Butterfly and Moth</a> were also good ones. And although I love Dr. Seuss and the slightly crazy songs on the DVDs, I was getting very tired of listening to them.<br />
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One thing that I am sure she will NOT be watching is "educational" shows (NOT the Eyewitness DVDs - the ones on PBS, Nickelodeon, and the Disney Channel). After reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/NurtureShock-New-Thinking-About-Children/dp/0446504130/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300689688&sr=1-1">Nurture Shock</a>, which I liked a LOT of (such as the sections on Praise and Self Control and Race and Sleep Deprivation) but Strongly Disagreed with some other points in it (especially the section on Education), I feel really good about not allowing "educational" programming in our home. I will admit that I was surprised that the researchers "found that <i>Arthur</i> is more dangerous for children than <i>Power Rangers</i>" (p.181) and "The more educational media the children watched, the more relationally aggressive they were." (p.180) The researchers theorize that this might be because the majority of children's shows are negative most of the time with just a small part (the resolution at the very end) being "positive." To quote again:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can imagine educational television might use an initial insult to then teach a lesson about how insults are hurtful, but that never was the case, Schiebe [one of the researchers] found. Of the 2,628 put-downs the team identified, in only 50 instances was the insulter reprimanded or corrected - and not once in an educational show. Fully 84% of the time, there was either only laughter or no response at all." (p.182)</span><br />
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That said, I think that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Lola-Vol-Morgan-Gayle/dp/B001B187O8/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1300689762&sr=1-1">Charlie and Lola</a> (at least the first few seasons) is fairly good at modeling positive sibling/child relationships because Charlie and Lola have their differences, but they don't resort to calling each other names over them. <br />
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As for what I am watching, right now I am addicted to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pushing-Daisies-Complete-Second-Seasons/dp/B0024FABCG/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1300691740&sr=1-3">Pushing Daisies</a>!!!! The episodes with Wilford Woodruff and Lemuel made me laugh with special glee. =) Thanks, <a href="http://lsteed.blogspot.com/">Lady Steed</a>!<br />
~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-83287042570328013272011-03-10T08:35:00.000-08:002011-03-10T08:35:52.415-08:00the Dude loves MathThe Dude gets up at Insanely Early Hours every morning but he is expert at finding something fun to do while he's waiting for us to wake up. (See <a href="http://spozamariposa.blogspot.com/2011/03/waking-up-to-treasure-hunt.html">Treasure Hunt</a>) Today he brought in a piece of paper that he had been expanding a fraction out on (I don't know the correct terminology here!) - whatever the opposite of reducing fractions is. He had started with the fraction 2/5 and had multiplied by 2 out to 4/10, and kept multiplying it by 2. He got it Perfectly Right to 1,024/2,560 and then did a slight carrying error in the bottom.<br />
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BUT he did Perfectly Right on the top all the way until he stopped (at 65,536!) AND he multiplied his incorrect answer correctly until the end (to 160,640).<br />
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I love how we talk about a concept (like reducing fractions) and he takes it in a slightly different direction to the Extreme. (I like less that he chided me for doing it the Easy Way as I wrote out the multiplication to check his answer).<br />
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One thing is certain - the Dude Loves Math!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3W-r-DWvZtyqsdwvhhzvbMTr9l3QUJUOF82x4PYgbvpWxFS32jR1-MjN79wmfwgWKDc2XtOe1r5g1esR2daMiWOcmf3TciqNG0ljQEkKbq1ms8-HeRWTGsNoHZ1_ROghhO5Bj/s1600/HyrumFraction.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="32" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3W-r-DWvZtyqsdwvhhzvbMTr9l3QUJUOF82x4PYgbvpWxFS32jR1-MjN79wmfwgWKDc2XtOe1r5g1esR2daMiWOcmf3TciqNG0ljQEkKbq1ms8-HeRWTGsNoHZ1_ROghhO5Bj/s400/HyrumFraction.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-74416135934908661552011-03-07T22:48:00.000-08:002011-03-07T22:48:49.546-08:00Waking up to a Treasure HuntWhen I got up this morning, the Dude was already deep at work on some project. I was warned several times to look away at certain times (which I dutifully did) and asked where my treats were because he needed some... for me. I directed him to his father, who said Mommy could get her Own Treats.<div><br />
</div><div>The Dude very proudly hands me a small piece of paper that reads,</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfGEXr-uAgWXvCVMUecJG8-1ihGeKYCe3BDHfHZs8I0e9rNQwLFmYUHZd3Cc7D4LTlgAOQMo2WakuhP4-pntb6Q2Hb0Ln_jlJfipSQPm6WaOS8iovbRMmFJ2xiy47Log7G2Gg/s1600/HyrumClue1+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfGEXr-uAgWXvCVMUecJG8-1ihGeKYCe3BDHfHZs8I0e9rNQwLFmYUHZd3Cc7D4LTlgAOQMo2WakuhP4-pntb6Q2Hb0Ln_jlJfipSQPm6WaOS8iovbRMmFJ2xiy47Log7G2Gg/s200/HyrumClue1+1.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><div><br />
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</div><div>I look there (the very chair I'm sitting on now!) and find another:</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFoZHOmzIaZVnMgW0jsbXUIHTkqgoXt4m__8j4ztMAo2iS0LPqSSzRGjs66pWZtII_d_fJ4NZRXk4LUsQXlisjV4avwV46GO8HpArJTt8jgS9BcqBPtmgeErRp6X9UysYh8xL/s1600/HyrumClue2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFoZHOmzIaZVnMgW0jsbXUIHTkqgoXt4m__8j4ztMAo2iS0LPqSSzRGjs66pWZtII_d_fJ4NZRXk4LUsQXlisjV4avwV46GO8HpArJTt8jgS9BcqBPtmgeErRp6X9UysYh8xL/s200/HyrumClue2.jpeg" width="145" /></a></div><div><br />
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</div><div>This might've posed a bigger problem if I hadn't heard the front door open a couple times this morning and gotten an Evasive Answer about what was going on.</div><div><br />
</div><div>So I go around collecting my notes from their hiding places. Some of my favorites:</div><div><br />
</div><div>Clue three: Youve done the hard one that is true, but now check under the table.</div><div>Clue four: to get to the prize, go and ask a old clumsy chair.</div><div>Clue nine: inside a thin drawer is next.</div><div>Clue eleven: next to the piano is next.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Until I get to "Clue eghteen: in dads box is the prize."</div><div><br />
</div><div>Of course the Dude is following me around and giggling delightedly every time I find a clue or Especially when I look in Not the Right Place immediately. He is on hand to explain to me that he could not put my prize there, but that I had Certainly earned it, so I should go get it. Since I hadn't had breakfast yet, I deferred collection of my Prize until later.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I wondered what had inspired him to this project and I found it was from his new book:</div><div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cost of the book?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">$9.99</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cost of this Treasure Hunt?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Priceless.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">~</div><div><br />
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</div>Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-65138103712973513632011-03-06T23:31:00.000-08:002011-03-06T23:31:08.919-08:00The Cake that wanted to Be a Disaster but I Wouldn't let it Be one<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Behold the Cake</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(with a slight amount of photo editing to remove incriminating names)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BPDI-29hsEvahA3N3lbE9MgJVGII-hZQjNrycHYOuii6_jDUBphYIFa8jOwIhNaFqMrRegBy7nO2FrkpxCppZ_IH9_VwGjYP0Yj2XYjKruoDgaHi0y0wHw5RtG2P8krsjv1t/s1600/DSC_0049+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BPDI-29hsEvahA3N3lbE9MgJVGII-hZQjNrycHYOuii6_jDUBphYIFa8jOwIhNaFqMrRegBy7nO2FrkpxCppZ_IH9_VwGjYP0Yj2XYjKruoDgaHi0y0wHw5RtG2P8krsjv1t/s640/DSC_0049+-+Version+2.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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From the time I started gathering ingredients on Tuesday night, I had a feeling this cake might be a challenge. I didn't have enough butter in the fridge to make it. I had some in the freezer, but getting butter to thaw in a short amount of time without melting it is not a skill I claim to have. So I could not make the cake that night. I left the butter out overnight and planned for a crazy Birthday morning.<br />
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I woke up early-ish and mixed the cake before making the Birthday Scrambled Eggs. When I went to put the cake in the oven, the rack was really close to the bottom, so I had to move it up. It took me a couple tries before I fit it in right. I put the cakes in, put on the timer and got back to making Birthday Eggs. About 10 minutes from being done, Boo wants to see her cakes. I turn on the oven light and gasp.<br />
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I had put the oven rack in slanted! The cakes were Very Slanted! I wanted to throw up my hands and scream AAARRRRRGGHHHH! I think I said OHNO OHNO OhNo! and then Very Gently took the cakes out, righted the rack and put the cakes back on (while yelling for various children to Stay Back so they Wouldn't get Burned!) The cakes ended up being Less Slanted than I had feared, but still Very Slanted. I had no time/ingredients to do another batch. This would have to do.<br />
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Before I knew the cakes would be slanted, I was still choosing between doing Traditional Buttercream or Swiss Meringue Buttercream for the cake. Because of the slantedness, the Swiss Meringue won because of it's awesome sculpting power, cover-it-up-ed-ness, and not-so-sweetness (because this cake would need a LOT of frosting).<br />
<br />
Now I had NO butter, so I had to go spend 10 dollars (!!!!) on 2 pounds of unsalted butter at Safeway (another reason to shop at Trader Joe's for basics!) on the way to picking up the Dude from school.<br />
<br />
I whip up the egg whites and sugar over the double boiler, cool it, whip in the butter and start adding the gel color. And add more. And More! It is not doing anything except being tiny little blobs of concentrated color in (still) mostly white frosting. I go to the drip red coloring which does this funny beading up at first, but gets mixed in eventually. I scrap the "red frosting" idea and decide Pink is Good Enough - if I use Red Sparkle Sugar to make the heart red instead.<br />
<br />
I trim the cakes a bit so they will fit a bit better together, but the frosting does its magic and fills the gaps and I can pile it on thick to cover up the imperfections.<br />
<br />
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<br />
No one cares about the inches of frosting! No one notices the Very Slantedness of the Actual Cake! We all delight in getting sugar highs from its beautiful deliciousness.<br />
<br />
Mmmmm!<br />
~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-84356342471235349332011-03-06T22:07:00.000-08:002011-03-06T22:07:09.128-08:00Highlights from Boo turning 2!Boo has been looking forward to her birthday since the Dude's birthday a couple months ago. She wanted Happy Birthday sung to her at all times of day. She practiced her blowing each time we finished the song because she knew that after the song came the blowing of the candles. At first it was the "ffffff" blow that is quite ineffectual but she gradually got the very effective "oooo" blow in good form before the Big Day.<br />
<br />
We did not do a Big Party since she was just turning two, but happily her birthday coincided with Piano Lessons Day and so the students stayed a bit later and a couple other friends came over and we a fairly full house when the cake was ready to be blown out. She wanted to blow the candle out as soon as the cake was finished, so I had to put the cake somewhere untouchable so that she wouldn't be tempted until it was Time. We got her candle in her Pink Heart Cake, sang her Happy Birthday and she blew out her candle on the first attempt! (Our first child to do that on his/her second birthday!)<br />
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<br />
We all had Cake (which was very delicious from all accounts - the frosting was especially popular - being eaten by the spoonful before the cake was served!) and then some friends had to go home, but some stayed for the Present Opening. One of her presents got delivered to the wrong apartment, but since the family that got it sent out an email asking about a Miss {her name here} and a friend forwarded the email to us, we were able to go pick it up and get it in time. Ah, the miracles of modern technology! =) She loved her new pink pajamas with hearts and her baby "purse." As I was explaining that her package was addressed to Miss {her name here}, she emphatically said, "{her name}BOO!" Yes folks, she thinks her name has a BOO attached to the end of it. I love this. You can't imagine how much.<br />
<br />
She is very happy to be TWO now and is also loving all her beautiful new clothes and putting her baby to bed in its very own bed.<br />
<br />
(Expect a post soon on how the cake was a near disaster, but turned out fine after all).<br />
~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-5298961653294417422011-02-06T22:00:00.000-08:002011-02-06T22:12:15.901-08:00Book Review: The Composer is Dead<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Composer-Dead-Book-CD/dp/0061236276/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297057934&sr=8-1">The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket </a>(with music by Nathaniel Stookey)</div><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This is a fabulously fun book to introduce children to the orchestra. Written with Lemony's famously wry style, it made the Spozo and I laugh out loud a couple times as we listened to it (which you really should do as it is read by Mr. Snicket himself and the music makes it much more fun). The basic premise (as you might have surmised) is that the composer is dead and the Inspector must figure out who in the orchestra has committed this heinous crime. The music is modern Berlioz-ish sounding for much of it, but plays with some other styles too as they introduce the different instruments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two of my favorite parts are:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">(One, from the very beginning of the book) "'Composer' is a word which here means 'a person who sits in a room, muttering and humming and figuring out what notes the orchestra is going to play.' This is called composing. But last night, the Composer was not muttering. He was not humming. He was not moving, or even breathing. This is called decomposing."</div><div style="text-align: justify;">(Two, just a couple more pages in) "The violin section is divided into the First Violins, who have the trickier parts to play, and the Second Violins, who are more fun at parties."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The illustrations are also delightful. I highly recommend this book! (And thanks to Roni and Romgi for the awesome Christmas present!)<br />
~</div>Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-91538816130366064482011-02-04T00:12:00.000-08:002011-02-04T00:41:46.471-08:00Catch-Up is ImpossibleBut very necessary. Roni, this post is for you! =)<br />
<br />
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<br />
You'd think from looking at this blog that the poor Boo is still a tiny baby. But she's not! She's a very inquisitive almost-2-year-old. She likes to do knock-knock jokes. Sample:<br />
Boo: Knock Knock!<br />
Me: Who's there?<br />
Boo: Orange!<br />
Me: Orange who?<br />
Boo: wild laughter<br />
She is trying out sentences. One of my favorites is "I love you!" Most of them begin with "I want" like, "I want breakfast!" (Which sounds more like, "I-wan feh-feshhhhhh") Another favorite (of mine and hers) is, "Audrey push!" (To which I usually reply, "And you pushed Audrey!") Some more favorites: her favorite letter is W; her favorite colors are pink and red; her favorite shape is a heart. She loves birthday cakes and calls them "Happy!" For her birthday, she wants a heart-shaped birthday cake that is pink and red and wants to blow out the candles. She calls my iPhone "Babies" and can navigate to where she wants better than I can sometimes! All things animal are still fascinating to her, but her especial love right now is for birds. She still loves baby dolls, but now wants to feed them or change their diapers with wipes. Lots of wipes. Maybe because they begin with a W? Who knows? What we do know is that she is still adorable and smiley and sweet.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV_mcs3FugmRv95h0KfLCe8AEEVPQMXs4zIEQ938wsMVUTSo8KwvCTM-Yk3v7P5pp7LQU_4_NlXIBWtht1lEsgTMAoG563OQ0hL4c4DjJ5VhmpmR4el2tuZTuB5eR3pfDP5lF/s1600/DSC_0033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV_mcs3FugmRv95h0KfLCe8AEEVPQMXs4zIEQ938wsMVUTSo8KwvCTM-Yk3v7P5pp7LQU_4_NlXIBWtht1lEsgTMAoG563OQ0hL4c4DjJ5VhmpmR4el2tuZTuB5eR3pfDP5lF/s400/DSC_0033.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The Sita has also grown. She wanted her hair cut short. Now it is short. She has so much of it that I think she is glad to not have so much of it making her hot all the time. I do miss her beautiful locks although she looks adorable with her new do. She has a constant little chatter of storytelling going on which can be very entertaining. Her favorite song is I Love to See the Temple (although she did let me sing He Sent His Son instead when I put her to bed last night). She is an awesome Big Sister most of the time and invents new things to do with Boo all the time. Most of the time they play babies but the other day they were playing in a storage container like it was the funniest thing they had come up with yet. The Sita still wants her "snuggles" every morning and loves to eat more berries than are good for her. She and I have been reading the Little House series together and are now on These Happy Golden Years. Reading ahead of where we are is one of her guilty pleasures. We still find her distractingly beautiful.<br />
<br />
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<br />
The Dude is almost grown up! Well, not really, but it sure seems that way. He is still the same old Dude in many ways, but has picked up a few new interests recently. He is into Origami spending hours folding water bombs and airplanes and flowers and swans and hearts. The Legends of the Guardians series (books about owls and their society) have captured his imagination and he has read most of the 15 books (the ones he hasn't read are ones he didn't get for his birthday or Christmas). His violin playing is getting better and better! Right now he's practicing the Hunter's Chorus and having fun with the bowing. Probably the thing he is most proud of is that he is really good at "skinnies" (apparently a very technical term regarding handball on his school playground). He is also learning a bit of Korean because most of his friends at school are from Korea and learning English. Second grade has really helped his writing take off and now our house is covered in all sorts of advisory notices - like this one found on his room:<br />
(spelling, grammar and punctuation replicated as faithfully as possible)<br />
<br />
1. warning! you Must be exactly 4 or 6 or 7 to entr the secret bed or (club) as we call it! no, that is Not our only place we use (we also use the passege way to mom and dad's room) and we will still make more.<br />
<br />
and an excerpt from another:<br />
<br />
you have to be able to solve this problum 900+970<br />
(no students so far because noone has applyed) (we love highlights) our job is to read them) reffering to (we love highlights)(highlights is shortened to them)<br />
<br />
I am so glad that these little preciouses are mine, mine, mine!Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-76214812282200501402010-09-19T21:46:00.000-07:002010-09-19T21:46:34.762-07:00The Dude is famous!That might be exaggerating. A bit. But it was fun when we went by his school's office the other day and saw this advertisement for an upcoming event:<br />
<div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbUQUmsyaWBQoEU3bjkIaFsHKYhsa-NV7fWKVsn_YVqJ49RIyR29icp4eY85q1YNk0joqFxv1Mdip6k_UhSvNNxQZanmldvC8lA_vtC6Xoiz9gCn2_DNLVpBWmEV_-LoEfxaE/s1600/IMG_0042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbUQUmsyaWBQoEU3bjkIaFsHKYhsa-NV7fWKVsn_YVqJ49RIyR29icp4eY85q1YNk0joqFxv1Mdip6k_UhSvNNxQZanmldvC8lA_vtC6Xoiz9gCn2_DNLVpBWmEV_-LoEfxaE/s320/IMG_0042.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Which is so cool! This was our Chalk it Up square from last year! We did this the weekend after we moved to this school. I hope we didn't cheat. I drew the outlines and then he chose the colors and colored in. I liked it then. I'm glad someone else liked it too.<br />
~</div>Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-27875691168621689262010-09-19T21:21:00.000-07:002010-09-19T21:46:58.856-07:00Thank you, Elder UchtdorfConfession: I don't like to do things unless I do them amazingly well. Which means that sometimes I don't do things that I'm "good" at because I'm not amazing. But tonight, while I read Elder Uchtdorf's talk on being creative, these lines jumped out at me:<br />
<br />
"What you create doesn't have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don't let fear of failure discourage you. Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you - whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside."<br />
<br />
So, in honor of that passage (and because the Spozo was off firesiding with Elder Jensen tonight) I did this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksji3u0usOe3u_LbuOmPXjQUmhaTIjMM88znlUeN7VEKp-iO8tcYYS_bzzQ_cNHrYRrUEeaF8YwN1OjnqyJ6qhKSYTZ4ATqluAVUz4h0EItsL2GVFrDWz7h865BDgwLpGqo70/s1600/DSC_0103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksji3u0usOe3u_LbuOmPXjQUmhaTIjMM88znlUeN7VEKp-iO8tcYYS_bzzQ_cNHrYRrUEeaF8YwN1OjnqyJ6qhKSYTZ4ATqluAVUz4h0EItsL2GVFrDWz7h865BDgwLpGqo70/s320/DSC_0103.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And I feel good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">~</div>Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-83967076228468932672010-04-04T14:56:00.000-07:002010-04-04T14:56:21.157-07:00180th General Conference Sunday Afternoon Live Blogging-finishing up lunch-<br />
<br />
Russel M Nelson<br />
<br />
families temple work<br />
steps of Family Search<br />
now helping everyone instead of own immediate families<br />
catch duplicate and errors<br />
<br />
Robert D Hales<br />
<br />
rising generation<br />
leading by example<br />
must plan teaching moments:<br />
Sit and talk about what is most important<br />
No earphones when driving around<br />
greatest influence warm caring interaction with parents<br />
Family dinner<br />
Pay Attention! ask questions and LISTEN<br />
"Grandpa, are you in there?"<br />
Connecting with them (doing PP with daughters)<br />
You will grow together in gospel<br />
must DO, not just know<br />
bear testimony<br />
legacy from love in homes<br />
<br />
Bradley D Foster<br />
<br />
picture book paddy "because mother told me"<br />
influence of mothers!<br />
<br />
-putting clothes on Boo-<br />
<br />
rescue the lost ones<br />
love of true mother closest to Godly love<br />
Jesus looked at mother make sure she is cared for<br />
<br />
I Know That My Redeemer Lives<br />
<br />
?<br />
<br />
Mighty ballplayer? <br />
-reading Edwina to Boo-<br />
-putting Boo down for nap, changing wet sheets-<br />
<br />
Francisco Vinas<br />
<br />
all things in commotion<br />
replace fear with faith<br />
rescue spiritually dead<br />
<br />
?<br />
<br />
No assigned topics<br />
building upon themes<br />
rising generation<br />
a time of permissiveness and distractions everywhere<br />
<br />
cannot be casual in teaching children<br />
<br />
Stories of Jesus<br />
embedded in minds<br />
pray for own miracles<br />
anticipate His return<br />
<br />
speak more frequently of Jesus<br />
your testimony will never leave your children<br />
<br />
father died suddenly- remember what he taught them<br />
<br />
<br />
Thomas S Monson<br />
<br />
trust in the Lord and he shall direct thy path<br />
song of righteous <br />
study messages in Ensign<br />
<br />
thanks for prayers in our behalf<br />
<br />
Abide With Me<br />
<br />
(all conference posts "typed" on my iPod)Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-5517325186324927182010-04-04T11:02:00.000-07:002010-04-04T11:02:45.425-07:00180th General Conference Sunday MorningPres Eyring conducting<br />
<br />
Pres Uchdorf<br />
-setting up treat stations: Easter, love, song, Jesus, resurrection-<br />
LOVE ONE ANOTHER<br />
<br />
Richard G Scott<br />
<br />
The Atonement<br />
<br />
Enormous responsibility to succeed<br />
endure Satan's attacks by himself<br />
Father did not abandon<br />
<br />
-getting water for the Boo-<br />
<br />
teaching children in home paramount<br />
every decision think of him<br />
<br />
Donald Hallstrom<br />
<br />
fear leads to anger which leads to hate which leads to the Dark Side<br />
Prince of Peace<br />
turn to lord in adversity <br />
affect generations of posterity<br />
joy and pain part of the plan - complementary<br />
how we respond to things <br />
deep water is what I am wont to swim in<br />
been wronged?<br />
Turn to the Lord he will deliver you out of bondage<br />
<br />
Rejoice the Lord is King<br />
<br />
Cheryl C Lant<br />
<br />
Sigh! The Primary Voice!!!!!!<br />
Seek the face of the Savior an invitation to know what he has done<br />
3 Nephi people seeing him in person - changed lives<br />
parents job to bring children to Savior<br />
<br />
-getting juice for Boo-<br />
<br />
help them keep connection to heaven<br />
<br />
Quentin L Cook<br />
<br />
Thursday Last supper <br />
the sacrament <br />
teaching love as preeminent <br />
holy ghost promised<br />
<br />
resurrection<br />
<br />
apendages - focus on resurrected Lord<br />
He Lives!<br />
<br />
Sacrament<br />
<br />
love<br />
how we react to one another shows commitment to doctrine<br />
civil in discourse<br />
love even our enemies - how we disagree shows true Christianity<br />
<br />
holy ghost<br />
we must find time to ponder<br />
signs of 2nd coming<br />
living higher life spiritually <br />
<br />
I Wonder When He Comes Again<br />
<br />
Pres Thomas S Monson<br />
<br />
Thank You - two most important words<br />
a hopeless dawn<br />
death universal heritage <br />
snows of age fallen upon head<br />
<br />
designer of universe<br />
understand meaning of death must understand purpose of life<br />
every chance to survive gave us a savior<br />
<br />
boyhood of Jesus<br />
he went about doing good<br />
<br />
summary of life and death<br />
<br />
"why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here"<br />
<br />
fall of Adam reclaimed<br />
joy of resurrection!<br />
<br />
Jason<br />
don't lose faith<br />
NEVER<br />
called to serve missions together<br />
<br />
He Is Risen!!!!!!<br />
<br />
In the Purple eastSpositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-70650621004937221812010-04-03T15:17:00.000-07:002010-04-03T15:17:21.739-07:00180th General Conference Saturday AfternoonGoodbye GeneralPrimary Presidency!<br />
Rosemary Wicks Whitman new president<br />
voting unanimous as usual<br />
come on up, newbies!<br />
<br />
Robert Cantwell<br />
<br />
auditing done fine<br />
<br />
Brook P Hales<br />
<br />
statistical report<br />
(putting pants on Boo)<br />
Truman G Madsen gone<br />
<br />
L Tom Perry<br />
<br />
mothers and teaching opportunity <br />
his mother a great teacher - reference material all over table<br />
best teaching in home ( more time) prepared to be example<br />
lessons learned from mother:<br />
parents entrusted with education of children<br />
desk in kitchen while did dinner!<br />
Memorizing scriptures memory become weak no idle thoughts<br />
values morals taught in home<br />
parents central cast members in lives of child <br />
bring up child in light and truth <br />
teaching in church to improve teaching at home and vice versa<br />
no such thing as over preparing for teaching the gospel<br />
Satans work more subtle andmore brazen than it has ever been<br />
<br />
<br />
D Todd Christopherson<br />
<br />
William Tyndale published Bible in English fluent in 8 languages<br />
threatened power of the church<br />
<br />
importance of scripture?<br />
Enlarged memory of his people<br />
-reading Smile to Boo-<br />
<br />
Korihor- no moral absolutes (prevalent in today's society)<br />
imagined a Jesus of social justice instead of personal rectitude<br />
Central purpose to help grow faith help feel Holy Ghost<br />
can have own personal copy is a huge blessing - must mean we need to be reading them now more than any other time<br />
<br />
We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet!<br />
<br />
Koichi Aoyagi<br />
<br />
saving rescue by Elders admired them<br />
parents opposed baptism<br />
-Boo needs consoling-<br />
postcard saves him<br />
<br />
?<br />
<br />
Ground effect engine stalled<br />
commandments don't apply to us?<br />
No! Keep commandments strictly<br />
Jeroboam returned and introduced Satanic rituals<br />
Naaman pride hurt, didn't want to obey<br />
Nephi gets the plates- the lord will understand disobedience? No, but will help obey<br />
<br />
David A Bednar<br />
<br />
standing water ahead sign -early warning signals<br />
Spiritual warning signs<br />
Word of Wisdom- warn and forewarn<br />
need to increase watching<br />
<br />
reading and talking about Book of Mormon: only scripture Jesus testified of<br />
youth respond to spirit- questions help to know what their challenges are<br />
<br />
testimony<br />
-Sita has various aches that need to be attended to -<br />
<br />
FHE unscripted search together and feel spirit<br />
<br />
act and seek learning<br />
<br />
parents read seek and invite to act - will help see early warning signs<br />
<br />
Jeffery R Holland<br />
<br />
porn <br />
it grieveth me <br />
why so much moral decay?<br />
<br />
-putting Boo to bed-<br />
<br />
lust is unsavory most deadly Why?<br />
Defiles highest and holiest relationships<br />
lust is clandestine and celebrates self-indulgence<br />
love shout from housetops (and GC)<br />
<br />
guard against temptation<br />
separate from circumstances and people<br />
don't leave forwarding address<br />
only real control in life is self-control<br />
dull our spirituality<br />
don't serve Tea! <br />
Cultivate spirit in home<br />
<br />
what was I thinking?<br />
Think of jesus - oh Jesus thou Son of God have mercy on me<br />
I will give place no more to the enemy of my soul!!!<br />
<br />
Nearer my God to Thee<br />
<br />
The End<br />
<br />
teach them to fish<br />
<br />
<br />
spontaneous testimonySpositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-20257890192569152922010-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:002010-04-03T09:51:08.427-07:00180th General Conference Live Blogging Saturday MorningMmmm! Donuts!<br />
<br />
President Uchdorft conducting (I just love his accent!)<br />
<br />
prayer<br />
haven't heard oracle for a while<br />
<br />
Pres Monson<br />
help with converts<br />
humanitarian strive to be first at disaster helped countless people<br />
temples<br />
rhapsodizing about his dear Francis (hip surgery!) kisses from her parents on their first date<br />
"ithink you'd look better in a navy uniform" so he joined the navy<br />
( his ad-libbing voice doesn't have his distinctive cadence - oh It Is Back now!)<br />
<br />
Sunshine in my soul (a little too saccharine for me)<br />
<br />
Boyd K P<br />
sitting down!<br />
Battle not our own<br />
keyword: priesthood <br />
Gideon drinking water (One of my F-I-L's favorite stories)<br />
Joseph Smith getting priesthood back<br />
never been easy to live gospel <br />
we to preach gospel<br />
never dominate by numbers -we will influence all of humanity<br />
priesthood loses power when sisters neglected<br />
distribution of authority BUT power in the priesthood in families diminishing?<br />
Father should do ordinances in his own home<br />
Vietnam War<br />
young man asked for blessing from Pres Lee - He said ask your father<br />
YM said he doesn't know how<br />
father ordains his own son<br />
Awaken the Power of the Priesthood!<br />
Living below their power<br />
weak things of the earth <br />
protect your home with that Power<br />
Satan attacking family constantly - EVERYTHING for protection and happiness of family<br />
<br />
Julie B Beck<br />
<br />
sisters worried deep desire to do what is right<br />
never been more need for strong faith, family, serve others <br />
not enough time to serve every one <br />
resist message that deserve more time for themselves rather than do responsibilities<br />
Personal Revelation<br />
temple, scriptures and prayer - paper to write impressions<br />
conscious effort to diminish distractions<br />
system of warchcare<br />
assist each other in refining -Eliza R Snow<br />
doing well when seek to improve seek out others when follow spirit<br />
growth of church bc women drawn to goodness seen as distinct from the world<br />
<br />
I love how empowering she is!<br />
<br />
Keith McMullin<br />
<br />
awake!<br />
Providing shelter for Jews went to Ravensbrook<br />
story in YW manual! Action THEN feeling of forgiveness<br />
<br />
battery running low must go :(Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-60635422878882949402010-02-05T23:36:00.000-08:002010-02-05T23:38:23.391-08:00Adorableness~<br />
The Boo is so much fun right now. I can't believe she's less than a month away from being a year old!<br />
<br />
She is understanding more of what we're saying and enjoying interacting with us (beyond smiling and crying). If you say "Yea!" she'll start clapping her hands. If you say "Bye!" or "Hi!" she'll start waving her hand. If you say "Sit down," "Spit it out," or "Give that to me," she does it. She laughs more than the Sita and the Dude did. We think she's getting some words almost worked out, but we're still not quite sure if she's saying "Mama" to name me or because she just loves saying "Mama" all the time.<br />
<br />
She is in love with her big brother and sister. When either of them is away from her for more than an hour and then she sees them again, she gives them her biggest giggly smile with crinkly nose and squinty eyes and kicks her happy feet. She loves interacting with people of all ages and especially loves babies smaller than her!<br />
<br />
Walking around has still has not captured her interest. Sometimes she will forget how much she doesn't like standing and will do it, but once she realizes she's standing she immediately sits down. At least she doesn't scream bloody murder when I try to get her to stand on her feet anymore; she tolerates it for a while and then has had enough and plunks back down.<br />
<br />
Whatever we are eating is what she wants to be eating. We have successfully added cheese and yogurt to her diet (and have high hopes for getting her to take milk to start weaning soon!) Right now she loves oranges and tangerines. If she sees citrus fruit, she does her "I want" noise. If she gets a hold of citrus fruit, she bites through the peel to get at the juicy fruit she knows is inside.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Emptying out is one of her favorite things to do - her toy basket, the diaper bag, my wallet, the bookshelf - whatever she can get her hands on! She also already loves to hug and cuddle baby dolls. Right now she's babynapping her elder sister's babies, but soon enough she'll have her own to drag around.<br />
<br />
Probably my favorite thing about her is how much she enjoys music. If someone is singing, she starts jumping, laughing and shrieking (the happy variety). She loves to bang on the piano. She would love to bang on the violin (she is quite frustrated that we don't let her).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZpGWGavczbcEjmglcr_a0fhNj2YZgGHk5Ar0yibRxzd-ncs4aw9tKoW_HWWIRrghu0_WKgHFzzlzfRFFHDmgoPpKFkAnryU-m7qQ9qvyiGjKG_ixS4UG_xau67SCK0aq47Xc/s1600-h/DSC_0128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZpGWGavczbcEjmglcr_a0fhNj2YZgGHk5Ar0yibRxzd-ncs4aw9tKoW_HWWIRrghu0_WKgHFzzlzfRFFHDmgoPpKFkAnryU-m7qQ9qvyiGjKG_ixS4UG_xau67SCK0aq47Xc/s320/DSC_0128.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She is a delight to have, and we're glad she's ours!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">~</div>Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-54389939300804812192010-01-08T22:58:00.000-08:002010-01-08T23:03:26.256-08:00Sibling Similarities?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>So, I've been thinking about how my babies all look so different - there will be no confusion about whose baby pictures are whose. But do you think they look like siblings? My brothers and I didn't look very much alike (which lead to some interesting situations when we got older), and I think it is likely my children will find themselves in similar awkward moments.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXG3eI4eh4dvT8aI-lGI7XHfr3GyRqaZwynu5wlyVet-pKhKM3WRMrCDyEEPqbWYQwwPh6ptQLXcxnUMLSq36o9xi96ELTpMYShBpJxA_iTZj2tzYwoibq3fSa6CHqnAFYOJV/s1600-h/october+019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXG3eI4eh4dvT8aI-lGI7XHfr3GyRqaZwynu5wlyVet-pKhKM3WRMrCDyEEPqbWYQwwPh6ptQLXcxnUMLSq36o9xi96ELTpMYShBpJxA_iTZj2tzYwoibq3fSa6CHqnAFYOJV/s400/october+019.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Dude at 10 months<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhIl4dg7CjrgSPJ1J3z1lVAs9hViiAew2Qv43zQUOy-Wk7kFJIC_EWtpy8qjXqzeaYIuOqM3Aqo0kBPcUAFK1anqd2goX4e52h8tBu1ulVFT0pnM21aXyuBSGCC_rSzJSP2z_/s1600-h/P4170015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhIl4dg7CjrgSPJ1J3z1lVAs9hViiAew2Qv43zQUOy-Wk7kFJIC_EWtpy8qjXqzeaYIuOqM3Aqo0kBPcUAFK1anqd2goX4e52h8tBu1ulVFT0pnM21aXyuBSGCC_rSzJSP2z_/s400/P4170015.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Sita at 10 months<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5ZB484HFIGLeSDJQ6BM7gSrmKcvujWW9qZZaTxesYszGuUCUiNrFUIn1KgMO1kAS_XfaTQaZg79I4miIU9w83LC4DXWFoQe15JF9xBqpBbRN1mQpE3fiiMU0s6Wo7MnqhOHl/s1600-h/DSC_0033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5ZB484HFIGLeSDJQ6BM7gSrmKcvujWW9qZZaTxesYszGuUCUiNrFUIn1KgMO1kAS_XfaTQaZg79I4miIU9w83LC4DXWFoQe15JF9xBqpBbRN1mQpE3fiiMU0s6Wo7MnqhOHl/s400/DSC_0033.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Rita at 10 months<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What do you think?<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Besides the fact that they're all adorable!)</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And did you notice?</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sita and Rita are wearing the same sweater!</span><br />
</div>Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-71167673969744304732009-11-08T22:30:00.000-08:002010-01-10T22:22:48.046-08:00My little Data~<br />
The Sita was Ladybug Girl for Halloween.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-Z5kTSL14NQKF8IvfPpDceYFP0pVH43CysHLvI8jvEWAl_Ur81LLyqLl7uaOLoIodE4oOXi_-QbZFvkueWa4UZyJAGZtHibb5Zve3vIZqyDtjziv1nIDTp_3ziDCCXutfsd2/s1600-h/DSC_0275.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401990284970797074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-Z5kTSL14NQKF8IvfPpDceYFP0pVH43CysHLvI8jvEWAl_Ur81LLyqLl7uaOLoIodE4oOXi_-QbZFvkueWa4UZyJAGZtHibb5Zve3vIZqyDtjziv1nIDTp_3ziDCCXutfsd2/s400/DSC_0275.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 268px;" /></a><br />
But maybe she should've been Data from Star Trek instead.<br />
<br />
Or another Dr. Noonien Soong android of the same generation. Because whenever she encounters a contraction while reading, she reads what it would say uncontracted. She is very cute and adorable when she reads it that way, but I wonder if she needs an upgrade in her programming so that it won't be obvious that we've got a little glitch in her positronic matrix.<br />
~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-79959299732797752322009-11-07T09:48:00.001-08:002009-11-07T10:08:31.791-08:00Autumn is here!~<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1NaC7dC0QOPKX4kgsaawRTOiaSx8NYHuMO58lurllDr-EgKybNFzIs4ke2cpDyTb2KoQnzxg00WCvAW42zIGHmUSGV35JJ7nbohXMfgNepp6QaVdjwKITUurFWDdpZsalLBG/s1600-h/DSC_0226.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1NaC7dC0QOPKX4kgsaawRTOiaSx8NYHuMO58lurllDr-EgKybNFzIs4ke2cpDyTb2KoQnzxg00WCvAW42zIGHmUSGV35JJ7nbohXMfgNepp6QaVdjwKITUurFWDdpZsalLBG/s400/DSC_0226.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401422245229203602" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKOE4PpQmBCZs5bXF_nmffY-p98-bD2JcY0Z7F9pHTGj09adhqkItXIMa_4KwRxmKk6dwmCvLRt0LSF29f17BmAZXNIZuBtXXTh_9P2KBkwWWls05LPrmHcE7HLzmItslkATw_/s1600-h/DSC_0254.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKOE4PpQmBCZs5bXF_nmffY-p98-bD2JcY0Z7F9pHTGj09adhqkItXIMa_4KwRxmKk6dwmCvLRt0LSF29f17BmAZXNIZuBtXXTh_9P2KBkwWWls05LPrmHcE7HLzmItslkATw_/s400/DSC_0254.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401422252553644418" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHALqb3mkl35lEOtaYFcy78uPJUNvAZTOLutaOiPxpYYrWNLidJuuuNe7u1zLjB3QQ6S7W3bs6OFUbgMyHX6ejdjv-lxBuzHgPwBvWG2OkMQG3FvIqDr1nssRlc9AlOqAJxio_/s1600-h/DSC_0234.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHALqb3mkl35lEOtaYFcy78uPJUNvAZTOLutaOiPxpYYrWNLidJuuuNe7u1zLjB3QQ6S7W3bs6OFUbgMyHX6ejdjv-lxBuzHgPwBvWG2OkMQG3FvIqDr1nssRlc9AlOqAJxio_/s400/DSC_0234.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401422239765302130" /></a><br /><br />If only I could've found the colored construction paper! I love living in a place that has beautiful leaves all over!<br />~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-778574374040869562009-10-13T21:44:00.001-07:002009-10-13T22:16:59.308-07:00Because I have adorable children and you haven't seen them in a while~<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1o5KAromKMdlP0CsYkmoEqzx1aSfecB9BN-yTuf8g5AVzApv8-ItEbf7GeXq4d09KLz_u-1IcZo_wBFUh2PAXQ6Ml4O4_6r5Hw_bqyLaVWQABZSQ5heUefl3JeKRCNJcTh9c/s1600-h/DSC_0113.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1o5KAromKMdlP0CsYkmoEqzx1aSfecB9BN-yTuf8g5AVzApv8-ItEbf7GeXq4d09KLz_u-1IcZo_wBFUh2PAXQ6Ml4O4_6r5Hw_bqyLaVWQABZSQ5heUefl3JeKRCNJcTh9c/s400/DSC_0113.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392314158332824226" /></a><br />Boo is most happy when she has hair to pull. She is learning the word "Gently!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIf_-36L8qajzKtAddFgcLyW7O0DkfhX467VbkKb9eeJrU1HorTIXksAQxN9j8qEcQfSN7nluF7YMBtWFwpEfBCtxTCSSW1Tr1aQT1KpkDIfGAWjSfxl3mHN7gNOdt8rCWrMjC/s1600-h/DSC_0083.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIf_-36L8qajzKtAddFgcLyW7O0DkfhX467VbkKb9eeJrU1HorTIXksAQxN9j8qEcQfSN7nluF7YMBtWFwpEfBCtxTCSSW1Tr1aQT1KpkDIfGAWjSfxl3mHN7gNOdt8rCWrMjC/s400/DSC_0083.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392314147487470610" /></a><br />The Sita likes to eat Trix. But we like to count them first. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9XQklyd-CaiSE2NwWq3SlmxnYfUHyITvsl6I7wcO_C0z9NE1IWX6Z7-UONSJaLxXERV_cg4Q_vaRRndfuKMPHQwkFiCXAZSHA2VkJRZHIS8n7Xmv5JNXWyVyspmuFInxZbQuQ/s1600-h/DSC_0135.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9XQklyd-CaiSE2NwWq3SlmxnYfUHyITvsl6I7wcO_C0z9NE1IWX6Z7-UONSJaLxXERV_cg4Q_vaRRndfuKMPHQwkFiCXAZSHA2VkJRZHIS8n7Xmv5JNXWyVyspmuFInxZbQuQ/s400/DSC_0135.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392314139449759250" /></a><br />The Dude is the Listening Star in his Kindergarten class for the day. From his perspective, this is The Most Important Thing to achieve at school.<br />~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-87894290083456410382009-09-08T10:34:00.000-07:002009-09-08T21:13:18.838-07:00You may imagine what I felt and how I acted...~<br />...when I came back to the lunch table after feeding Boo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJ9JJKVG4utwKUJ99P5z99IPhkiR3Fyld1MHynXBiS565sOBgaQad7JCJGDYO3gMrzcMSr7BSQ64ftCQbMjjH1mLvRf5usJwjUnJ_d-tRzta3UJxrvD_k8VUyi534C7dNAw94/s1600-h/DSC_0002.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJ9JJKVG4utwKUJ99P5z99IPhkiR3Fyld1MHynXBiS565sOBgaQad7JCJGDYO3gMrzcMSr7BSQ64ftCQbMjjH1mLvRf5usJwjUnJ_d-tRzta3UJxrvD_k8VUyi534C7dNAw94/s400/DSC_0002.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379315277153857506" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqEGTgZ79XaQ42T_zAJEBRNFhtTcGSrlrkH4owb0-fixHcaP_Ql5HXyNGv3GFM-5PdN-CFQ167tyfEG61uCZ_1nTJi6C1SEk12ENSfKFqu91w80QJBR1fdlbv4VKgPraCiV5I/s1600-h/DSC_0001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqEGTgZ79XaQ42T_zAJEBRNFhtTcGSrlrkH4owb0-fixHcaP_Ql5HXyNGv3GFM-5PdN-CFQ167tyfEG61uCZ_1nTJi6C1SEk12ENSfKFqu91w80QJBR1fdlbv4VKgPraCiV5I/s400/DSC_0001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379315268771762418" /></a><br />~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-28990786871927784532009-08-19T12:41:00.001-07:002009-08-19T12:56:24.355-07:00Overheard at the lunch table~<br />How did the bee cross the water?<br />By getting eaten by a shark!<br /><br />Why did the bee hit the car?<br />Because it wanted to get stung!<br /><br />Why did the chicken cross the road?<br />Because it wanted to eat the watermelon!<br /><br />Why did the car go into the cookie?<br />Because he wanted to see the eyeball!<br /><br />Each of these was greeted with uproarious laughter. Because they're all <i>that</i> funny.<br />~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33304763.post-52286491342602564672009-08-18T17:43:00.000-07:002009-08-19T12:57:08.109-07:00the Dude's recipe for Vanilla Cream~<br />(as dictated, verbatim)<br /><br />On a hot sunny afternoon or morning, if you want to make this recipe you need vanilla ice cream.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.foodelicious.com/images/may07/icecream2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 220px;" src="http://www.foodelicious.com/images/may07/icecream2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><b>Ingredients</b><br />vanilla ice cream<br /><br /><b>Directions:</b><br />In a small bowl put one scoop of vanilla ice cream in the bowl and then wait a couple minutes. Probably one minute.<br /><br />Mash well on the side of the glass bowl. Then stir well. Then if you don't want to drink it yet put it in a bag in the freezer.<br /><br />And when you want to, you can drink it. But it has to be in a day of the week you made it. Otherwise, it will go bad.<br />~Spositahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718356154321754520noreply@blogger.com5